Space station command a first for Japan

The Small Satellite Orbital Deployer, in the grasp of the
Kibo laboratory robotic arm, is photographed by an
Expedition 38 crew member on the International Space
Station as it deploys a set of NanoRacks CubeSats last
month. REUTERS/NASA

Japanese astronaut Koichi Wakata has assumed command of
the International Space Station, the first Japanese national to
oversee a manned space mission.

Wakata, 50, had been a space station flight engineer since he
and two crewmates arrived on Nov. 7.

"I am humbled to assume the command of the space station,"
Wakata said during a change-of-command ceremony broadcast on
NASA Television.

Outgoing station commander Oleg Kotov, flight engineer Sergey
Ryazanskiy, both from Russia, and NASA astronaut Mike Hopkins
are due to depart the orbital outpost on Monday. Their
replacements arrive on March 26.

Wakata's command marks just the third time the station is
being overseen by a crewmember who is not from NASA or the
Russian Space Agency, the two primary partners of the
15-nation project.

Canadian Chris Hadfield served as commander from March to May
2013. European Space Agency astronaut Frank DeWinne led a
station crew in 2009.

"I am very proud as a Japanese to be given this important
command," Wakata, speaking Japanese, said through a
translator.

"I think that this reflects the real trust toward Japan and
what Japan has achieved over the past years," he said.

So far, four Japanese astronauts have served as space station
crewmembers, including Wakata, who previously flew in 2009.
Wakata also is a veteran of two space shuttle missions.

Along with NASA astronaut Rick Mastracchio and Russian
cosmonaut Mikhail Tyurin, Wakata is scheduled to remain
aboard the station until mid-May.

One of his first tasks as commander will be to oversee the
arrival of a Space Exploration Technologies' Dragon cargo
ship which is due to launch from Cape Canaveral Air Force
Station in Florida next Sunday and reach the station on March
18.

The station, a $100 billion research laboratory, flies about
260 miles (about 420 km) above Earth. It has been permanently
staffed by rotating crews of astronauts and cosmonauts since
November 2000.